Green Port Research Articles

Towards a Green Port strategy: The decarbonisation of the Port of Vigo (NW Spain)

Carbon footprint (CF) has become a crucial piece to develop strategies to tackle the climate change issue. Its implementation makes it possible establishing a path towards decarbonisation with the aim to comply with European and global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions guidelines and commitments. Currently, several tools for calculating the CF are available. However, the differences in the calculation methodology and data collection prevent comparative studies based on the results obtained to be made. For this reason, CEDEX (Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas), commissioned by Puertos del Estado, prepared a good practice guide with a common methodology for calculating the CF of Spanish Ports. In this study, we tested this standardized methodology for the first time in the Port of Vigo (NW Spain) during a four-year period (2017–2020), developing a web tool to facilitate its application, with the ultimate aim to extend its implementation nationwide. This work demonstrates the suitability of the CEDEX methodology to quantify the CF in harbours, and to assess the interannual evolution of the emissions, thus facilitating the assessment of the different environmental strategies implemented in the port to achieve the emissions reduction targets. The main CF loads are derived from the loading/unloading operations, due to the consumption of fuel, accounting to a value of 14,161 kg CO2 eq per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit). With the implementation of the methodology developed in this study, a reduction of 55 % of GHG emissions could be achieved in all port activities, thus complying with the objectives of the European Green Deal for 2030.

The Evolution of Green Port Research: A Knowledge Mapping Analysis

Green port research integrates numerous theoretical and empirical studies of topics of important concern over the years, involving comprehensive scientific analyses. Learning about the global evolution of research on green ports can improve the understanding and evaluation of green ports by scholars and practitioners. In this paper, a total of 1051 papers from the Web of Science core collection for the period during 1992–2021 are collected as sample data. Based on the database, an analysis is conducted with CiteSpace software to map the knowledge regarding the field of green ports and explore the current research trends; the cooperation networks among countries (regions), institutions, and authors; and the evolution and mutation of keywords. The results indicate that the overall number of green port papers has increased over time. The countries with the highest numbers of papers published and the greatest influence are China and the United States, respectively. Additionally, the cooperative networks among authors, institutions, and countries are not mature enough and need to be strengthened further. Existing studies focus on the environmental impacts, evaluation, and construction of green ports. Recent trends indicate that researchers have become increasingly focused on reducing emissions, optimizing operations, evaluating policies, and identifying post-pandemic health issues associated with green ports. This study contributes to knowledge by assessing the state of the most significant studies published in the field of green port research, and the results contribute to a better understanding of green port research, which can further provide directions for the sustainable development of green ports.

Distributed Energy Management for Zero-Carbon Port Microgrid

A zero-carbon port microgrid that integrates carbon capture power plants is proposed to build the green port and promote the achievement of the dual-carbon goal. To achieve the optimal economic operation of the port microgrid and reduce carbon emissions, an energy management model considering carbon trading mechanisms is established. Furthermore, a distributed energy management method is proposed for the zero-carbon port based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMMs). The simulation results prove the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method, which can effectively improve the economy of the port microgrid and reduce the carbon emission of the port.

Implications of government subsidies on shipping companies’ shore power usage strategies in port

The shore power available in ports has a low utilization rate, though its use is an effective way to reduce pollution emissions. Encouraging shipping companies to use shore power has become an important issue in green port construction. This paper builds a Nash game between two shipping companies regarding the decision to use shore power and analyzes the impact of government intervention on the equilibrium that can be reached between them. The result shows that in the absence of government intervention, an equilibrium between the two shipping companies in the use of shore power would require a sufficient benefit. Unfortunately, the two shipping companies could be caught in a prisoner’s dilemma when they reach such an equilibrium. However, government intervention through price subsidies can improve this situation, either by expanding the area in which an equilibrium is reached or by mitigating the toll of the prisoner’s dilemma. Moreover, price subsidies are also conducive to improving supply chain profits and social welfare. The paper also analyzes the mutual influence between different government intervention methods and the impact of other important factors on the performance of government subsidies.

Social Economic Changes of Local Communities in Affected Locations Post-Development of Lamong Bay Terminal

Infrastructure development drives changes in livelihoods, incomes, and social status. The construction of the Teluk Lamong Terminal is a phenomenon of community social change that originates from environmental changes. This study aims to explain the socio-economic changes in the surrounding community after constructing the Teluk Lamong Terminal. This research was conducted using a descriptive method by interviewing 161 employees who are also part of the local community. This study found that most people felt the socio-economic changes that occurred because of the multiplier effect in the economic field, such as opening business opportunities. In the social field, changes also occur in social relations in the community, namely the improvement in conditions of social harmony and the role of PT. Teluk Lamong Terminal in terms of repairing various infrastructures in the affected areas. Through the concept of Green Port and Green Culture, PT. Teluk Lamong Terminal also creates cultural changes in the community to participate consistently in protecting the environment.

Polymorphic Distributed Energy Management for Low-Carbon Port Microgrid With Carbon Capture and Carbon Storage Devices

In order to reduce the carbon emission of the port and build a green port, a polymorphic distributed energy management method for the low carbon port microgrid with carbon capture and carbon storage device is proposed. Firstly, this paper presents a low carbon port microgrid in a polymorphic network environment to realize the information interaction among energy subjects in different modes and improve network communication performance among port power generation device, main grid, carbon capture and carbon storage device. Secondly, the energy management model of low-carbon port microgrid is constructed considering the additional carbon capture device and carbon storage device in the port. Then, based on the multi-agent consensus algorithm, a distributed energy management method is proposed, which is respectively oriented to the grid-connected operation mode, island operation mode and switching operation mode of the port microgrid, so as to achieve the economic, low carbon and reliable operation of the port microgrid. Finally, the simulation results of Matlab verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Project Green Ports: Are Indian ports on the right track?

ABSTRACT Seaports have evolved with changing technologies to ensure the handling of close to 80 per cent of global trade by volume and 70 per cent by value. As the ports have grown across the world, unabated pollution from numerous activities of ships, ports, industries, and infrastructure development has forced countries to focus on safe, efficient, and sustainable ports by focusing on community development to achieve cleaner harbours, skies, and soil. An effort of the Government of India for major Indian ports in this direction is Project Green Ports. Though the project was initiated in 2016, there is little update available about the project. It is to fill this gap that the article discusses the progress of the major Indian ports towards becoming green ports. In doing so, the article analyses the efforts made and the existing shortcomings to answer whether the Indian ports are on the right track to becoming green ports.

The coupling effect between economic development and the urban ecological environment in Shanghai port

With the rapid development of ports in the world today, the ecological environment pollution of port cities is becoming more and more serious. How to coordinate the port industry and the urban environment is an urgent problem to be solved. This article proposes a system to evaluate the coordination between port industry chain development and the urban ecological environment by taking Shanghai Port as an example. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was applied to calculate the weights of various indexes, then the Coupling Coordination Degree Model (CCDM) was adopted to systematically study the coordination relationship between port industry development and the urban ecological environment. Our research finds the coupling coordination degree between Shanghai Port's economic development and the urban ecological environment shows an overall upward trend, changing from severely misaligned in 2000 (0.125) to barely coordinated in 2019 (0.691). Shanghai has achieved some results in constructing the ecological environment and green port, but there is still much room for improvement. Shanghai port needs to strengthen container transportation, enhance energy conservation and emission reduction, and vigorously promote the development of a green port. This study will provide a basis and reference for relevant institutions, government departments, and policymakers to formulate scientific and effective green port industry chain development strategies.

Port Sustainability as a Service: The Design of Bespoke Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to Improve Operational Efficiency at Harbours by Prioritising Social Satisfaction

The maritime industry is a complex ecosystem which is important to manage carefully given the role it plays in handling global trade. Effective operation at a port is dependent on a timely passage of goods, involving multiple competing objectives, one of which is sustainability. Unsurprisingly, given the extent of a port's operations, it is a significant contributor of emissions. A port is a physically demanding industry in which to work, and any degradation in workforce productivity can have a detrimental effect on the port's effective running. Slow operations, combined with dependencies between port stakeholders, can further amplify unsustainability. There are some efforts to explore the digitalization of ports, including the creation of green and smart ports. However, there is general widespread resistance to the introduction of technology in this domain. There are therefore a number of areas in which to make technical contributions to improve the efficiency of port operations. In this paper, we propose using the satisfaction of staff at a port to influence the efficiency of its operations. In recognition of widespread low staff morale at ports in general, we recognize that staff become dissatisfied as operations move out of their control and the resulting consequences of interruptions to performance can lead to disruptions unable to be rectified quickly or easily, with staff motivation remaining low. Once low and unmotivated, there is a possibility that motivation will remain low even for operations which staff are in control of, with a detrimental effect on the efficiency, and therefore sustainability of the port. We believe that measuring and improving the satisfaction of staff for the efficiency it can bring will be possible through the roll-out of sensors supporting an Internet of Things (IoT) architecture across a port. With satisfied staff, they are likely to be motivated to work in an efficient manner, which will carry through to situations when unexpected circumstances outside their control occur. It is therefore through increased IoT use that port sustainability will be supported in our proposal. Enabling this, staff efficiency and satisfaction can be tracked using a connected service made available using Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The cost of the service and subsequent extent to which staff can be monitored and managed for sustainability objectives can be agreed with a service provider in advance. When staff are satisfied, the port will be operated to sustain low costs. When staff satisfaction begins to decline, however, operation will become focused on the performance of the port to identify where bottlenecks exist in inefficient operations and staff output. While simultaneously managing both cost and performance through the satisfaction of staff, the goal is an overall positive contribution to a port's efficiency and sustainability.

Evaluating sustainability factors of green ports in China under fuzzy environment

Evaluating sustainability factors of green ports in China under fuzzy environment

The Analysis of the Conceptual Framework of Green Port Implementation in Indonesia Using Circular Economy: The Case Study of Benoa Public and Fishing Terminals

Several public seaports and fishing terminals are located in the same port complex but have different fragmented operations such as waste management. It is possible to provide a new initiative to ensure sustainability for all entities in the surrounding port ecosystem through the application of Green Port using the circular economy approach and mixed linear programming model. Therefore, this study aims to explore the collaborative management of waste generated from different port activities such as the operators of the public seaport, fishing terminal, and a city authority in Bali–Indonesia using circular economy principles. It was discovered that the integration model has the potential to generate new energy by recycling waste from all related entities in the production of a few main fishing products such as tuna, sardine, and squid, as well as vessel traffic, facilities, and cargo flow interactions in addition to other port operations.

Green port oriented resilience improvement for traffic-power coupled networks

Under the green ports initiative, port operations rely more on electric power. However, the power system is vulnerable to disruptions. Its ability to resist disruption seriously affects port resilience, which is related to the port operation’s level and performance. To maintain a resilient port, its infrastructure needs to be well designed and coordinated to prevent or reduce losses from disruptions. Therefore, some policies are proposed to improve port resilience under various disruption scenarios by focusing on the traffic-electric power coupled system and optimizing the planning level and operational level decisions. A two-stage, stochastic, and nonlinear mathematical programming model is established to model systems’ interaction and describe the impacts of preparedness and recovery actions with the objective of maximizing port resilience under a certain budget. The experimental results show that the improved coupled system can greatly improve the port resilience. In addition, the resilience of the port can also be improved by optimizing the investment in the power network and the equipment scheduling in the container transportation network. Some forward-looking managerial implications have been revealed.

Estimation of Pollutant Emissions and Environmental Costs Caused by Ships at Port: A Case Study of Busan Port

To reduce air pollutants, the International Maritime Organisation and port authorities use ship emissions regulations, such as MARPOL Annex VI and green port policies. To measure the effectiveness of these air emissions regulatory policies, accurate calculations of pollutant emissions and estimations of the social environmental costs of emissions are important. However, Busan Port still suffers from a lack of research on continuous monitoring and easy access to data-based emission calculation methods and estimation of the social environmental costs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to present quantitative emission calculations based on an open source and social environmental cost estimation method. To this end, the discharge of pollutants (NOx, SO2, CO2, VOC, PM2.5, and PM10) from ships in Busan Port was calculated using Port-MIS open data from 2015–2019. Subsequently, when the original study on estimating the social and environmental impact of air pollution from ships in Busan Port was difficult, the international benefit transfer method (an economic valuation method) was applied to estimate the social environmental costs. Our results can provide a basis for verifying the effectiveness of Busan Port’s air quality improvement policy in the future.

Benders decomposition for internal truck renewal decision in green ports

ABSTRACT To effectively decrease emissions and pollution emitted by equipment in container ports, many ports began to update equipment using diesel fuels to achieve the aim of green ports. This paper studies an internal truck renewal problem in container ports and proposes a two-stage stochastic programming model to optimally determine internal truck composition optimization adjustment including three renewal modes, i.e. purchasing, retrofitting, and chartering. An exact solution procedure based on Benders decomposition accelerating by Pareto-optimal cuts is developed for the proposed model. Given the problem background of Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port, comprehensive computational experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and the performance of the solution approach. According to the numerical experiments, some suggestions for the management of renewing internal trucks in green ports are summarized at the end of the paper.

Characteristics of Economic and Environmental Benefits of Shore Power Use by Container-Ship Size

To combat climate change, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are being made in all industries. The shipping sector is also one of the industries that emits GHG, including carbon. One way to reduce GHG emissions in the shipping sector is to use shore power (SP) rather than auxiliary engines during berthing. Port authorities are actively expanding SP facilities because it is possible to achieve the long-term goals of environmental benefits and green ports. However, the low economic feasibility of SP is a stumbling block for ship operators. Therefore, in this study, an economic analysis of SP use was conducted by container-ship size from the perspective of ship operators in consideration of benefits from differences in fuel oil and electricity prices, benefits through carbon emission reduction, and incentives from the port authorities. The result of the analysis showed that the benefit from the price of oil as well as the converted benefit from carbon emission reduction increased according to the size of the vessels. The economic analysis of a single port confirmed that small ships providing feeder services presented economic feasibility due to low installation costs and increased number of calls, while insufficient economic feasibility was presented for large ships above the old Panamax class due to the increased costs for installation. However, economic feasibility differs widely depending on whether port incentives are provided, and it was estimated that even large ships will be able to secure the economic feasibility of using SP if additional calls are made to ports that provide similar policy advantages.

Research on ecological evaluation of Shanghai port logistics based on emergy ecological footprint models

With the advent of economic globalization, port logistics industry in China has developed rapidly, but the energy consumption and pollution emissions brought by the development of port logistics are also increasing, which has seriously affected the regional environment. This study improves the traditional calculation method of ecological footprint based on the theory of emergy analysis and builds the emergy-ecological footprint (EEF) model of port logistics. Through data collection and analysis, the ecological situation of Shanghai port logistics from 2009 to 2018 is studied. The results show that the energy footprint of Shanghai port logistics is the largest component of the ecological footprint of port logistics, followed by the pollution footprint. Although the development of port water logistics promotes the development of natural resources and improves the ecological carrying capacity of port logistics, the ecological footprint is higher than the ecological carrying capacity, and Shanghai port logistics is still in an ecological deficit state. Therefore, this paper puts forward some strategies and suggestions to improve the ecological situation of Shanghai port logistics from the aspects of the formulation of laws and regulations, the improvement of port production and operation facilities, the improvement of collection and distribution structure and the strengthening of propaganda. Not only is it beneficial to the development of Shanghai green port logistics, but it also brings certain reference significance to the construction of other green ports.

Port Planning and Sustainable Development Based on Prediction Modelling of Port Throughput: A Case Study of the Deep-Water Dongjiakou Port

With the rapid development of ports, the port industry continues to focus on the function, service, and value chains. Further accelerating the high-quality development of ports has become crucial to promoting urban construction and economic development. Dongjiakou Port is an important shipping and logistics hub in the center of the Bohai Economic Rim and the Northeast Asia economic circle, which has superior deep-water resources. Through active transformation and upgrade, it has become an international trade hub with sustainable practices. This research examined Dongjiakou Port as a case study and employed a grey prediction model to analyze and predict port throughput and to determine the indicators and impact factors for a green port. In addition, the grey model and principal component analysis were used to predict the throughput of Dongjiakou Port from 2021 to 2025, and the effectiveness of the model was verified by comparing the predicted and actual throughput from 2014 to 2020. In addition, this research also provided suggestions for the sustainable development of ports from the aspects of port planning, port cargo structures, and effective port governance and development. The prediction model can provide support for future port planning and port design, to a certain extent, and can also provide references for predicting port throughput and promoting the construction of new ports and sustainable port development.

Multi-objective optimization of daily use of shore side electricity integrated with quayside operation

Within the context of using shore side electricity (SSE) at container terminals, we propose a multi-objective optimization model to solve the problem of berth allocation and quay crane assignment (BACAP). The proposed optimization model integrates the interconnected decisions on each vessel’s berthing position, berthing start and departure time, duration of using SSE, and duration of using auxiliary engines to minimize the costs of using SSE, departure delay and emissions. Several factors, including the availability of SSE at different berths and vessels and the time-of-use (TOU) electricity pricing, which have been frequently ignored by previous studies, are specifically considered in this paper. Due to the complexity of the proposed model, an integrative algorithm framework is developed, composed of Partial Optimization Metaheuristic Under Special Intensification Conditions (POPMUSIC), Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2), and k-means clustering. The numerical experiments for a real-world case illustrate the efficiency of the developed algorithm framework and the effectiveness of the proposed model. Compared to the best-known solutions with only one objective considered, the proposed model reduces the costs of using SSE, departure delay, and vessel emissions by 27.47%, 37.51%, and 51.44%. Besides, some managerial insights are outlined based on the experiments under a series of designed scenarios. In doing so, the proposed optimization model assists the promotion of using SSE and the development of green ports and green shipping.

Research Summary on Water Pollution in China Port Area for Green Port Construction

<p>Water transport has become one of the most important transport modes in many countries in the world due to its large carrying capacity, low transport cost and low energy consumption. As a hub for land-water transfer, due to frequent trade between ships and land, a large number of domestic sewage and oily sewage are discharged, as well as suspended pollutants generated during construction, etc., as a result, the problem of water pollution in port area becomes more and more serious. In order to carry out the strategy of sustainable development and the concept of green port development, it is imperative to carry out the research and prevention of water pollution in port area. Firstly, the sources and harms of the main water pollutants during the construction and operation of the port are summarized, then the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of these water pollutants are expounded, finally, the water pollution in the port area is summarized on the basis of the literature analysis, in this paper, the author suggests to introduce ecological engineering to treat the sewage in port area, compares the gap between domestic and foreign ports in drawing up water pollution prevention plan, and points out the defects and deficiencies of the existing water pollution research and prevention in port area.</p>

An environmental management system in seaports: evidence from Malaysia

ABSTRACT Seaports face significant environmental challenges in their role as hubs for logistics activities, particularly since ships are significant contributors to energy consumption, global warming and air and marine pollution. The environmental pressures facing ports has led to the emergence of the green port concept. Port Klang is the largest port in Malaysia, characterised not only by significant container throughput, but also by significant congestion issues, emissions and pollution. These characteristics led to the selection of Port Klang, the nation’s major seaport, as a case study for this analysis of the variables most relevant in the effective implementation of the green port concept and subsequent research into how this green seaport concept influences a seaport’s future competitiveness. To achieve these aims, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been employed. The findings of the analysis suggest that environmental quality, the use of energy and resources, waste handling and habitat quality and greenery are the critical influential factors required for establishing green port hub status and that then port competitiveness is most significantly affected by green operations, sustainable equipment, resources management and cost efficiency at seaports.